The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1887-04-09

In lew moments SHE rushed into the
room.
.'Senor. senori the senorita-"
''Well, whatP
"The senorita has~-gonei"
"Goner' exclaimed the Two men In
breath. rising from their seats.
Gone whereof added Pablo.
''Oh. senior, she's gone. and the win
dow"
Don Pablo rushed out of the room.
followed by Don Louis.
The examination which followed dis
closed hut little. except that Donna Car
men and her servant Manuela. who al-
WAYS slept in her room. had disappear
ed how. was easily seen from the open
window and cut bars
There was no trace 10 be found of
tracks. Nothing else seemed To have
been taken; simply, as the peon woman
had said. they were gone.
Don Pablo sank under the blow. He
seemed as though he were in 4 dream.
He sat in "A chair staring yacantly before
him. aud nothing they could do seemed
To rouse him.
With Don Louis II was different
Calling Juan, who. by-the-bye. was
nearly distracted. he asked him II they
had any t.greros. or tiger-hunters. on
the estate.
Learning there were two. he sent for
them. and before long they came 10
HIM. Tall. thln. almost gaunt men.
with more than one scar ON their half
naked bodies; their long. black hair
twisted up into knots on top of the head.
with heavy long knives hung at the
waist. and in their hands the deadly
blow-guns.
They stood before the young man
listening 10 his rapidly told story.
Then they began their search.
Quartering the ground To aud fro.
thev examined every inch carefully. but
without ANY result. Had there ever been
any trail. the poems trampling over it
would have eifaced IL long before
At last the older Of the two said TO
Don Louis:
"Senor, los peros' (the dogs).
'What fool | ami Here. Juan.
bring the dogs here. and get that one of
mine, All You people go in the house
until we get the trail. Josefa. bring
me some dress that your mistress
wore"
In a moment or two Juan came out.
leading five dogs Large. with heavy
dew-iaps. rather short legs. but long
bodies. of deep liver aud tan color.
they were as beautiful specimens of
the Spanish bloodhound rs one could
see.
Don Louis took the dress Josefa gave
him. and calling the dogs. gave 1t TO
them To smell. This they did for some
time. Then. leading them TO the win
dow, he let them loose Generations of
man-hunting had taught these animals
what to do.
Slowly. with their noses on the ground
they circled round until at last one of
them lifted up his head and gave pro-
longed bay.
Instantly the others gathered round
him. aud after smelling Tor moment,
repeated the sound. Then they started
towards the canes. the tiger-hunters
following them. and behind Don Louis
and dozen poems. Reaching the
canes. the hunters found the trail. and
examined Ii keenly for a few moments.
''Senor. they are Mucyeas." said the
older.
Are you sure. PedroP"
''St SeHor. 2"
Its near the great feast isn't it?"
''St seaOr--next month"
Don Louis hurried back to the house
to see Don Pablo. aud to tell him the
news.
The Mucyeas were. in the old Span
ish days the most dreaded of all the
tribes in New Grenada. Highly civil
lied. brave. and most desperate war
riors, the old histories are full of ac-
connts of their raids Like the greater
part of the South American Indians.
they worshipped the sun. and once a
year held a great feast in his honor.
at which they always had human sacri-
fees.
No need now to tell the two miser-
able men on the hacienda why the light
of their eyes had been stolen away in
the night Donna Carmen was destined
to have her heart torn from her body as
an offering TO the Great Lord OF the
Sky. the Mighty One. the Ruler OF
the Four Pillars of the Earth-Huana-
chin!
There would be warriors and pilgrims
present by the thousand; there would be
offerings of gold and precious stones,
there would be solemn dances and
hymns sung in honor of their god. and
then the girl would be laid on the altar
and the white-robed priest would offer
her bleeding heart before the snape-
/ less stone which was held in such rever-
ence.
/ Small wonder, then, when Don Pablo
heard the name of the Mucyeas. that he
threw oil his apathy and prepared to
! fight for his own,
/ In country where men habitually
/ travel in a somewhat rough and ready
fashion it does not take long to get
ready for an expedition, and in less
+ than an hour horses were saddled,
mules packed. and Don Pablo. with
Don Louis and some twenty mounted
/ poems, all fully armed, had started.
/ As before. the dogs, followed by the
! tiger-hunters. went first. and about ten
/ yards behind these came the rest of the
4 party. They passed through the cane
/ patcn, struck the wide savannah, or
/ grazing part of the estate, and towards
evening came to the foot of the noun
/ tains.
/ Here they had long consultation.
/ The trail led right up the rocks, and
/ Don Pablo knew that about two leagues
/ in that direction would bring them to
/ ground where the animals could not
travel. Upon pointing this out to the
/ guides. the older advised that the main
road across the mountains should be